Search:

Readers Comments

To send your message, please enter the words you see in the distorted image below, in order and separated by a space, and click "Submit." If you cannot read the words below, please click here to receive a new challenge.

Comments will appear online. Please do not submit comments containing advertising or obscene language. Comments containing certain content, such as URLs, may not appear online until they have been reviewed by a moderator.

Prop 13 had a 2/3 vote requirement for new taxes. Due to redistricting the republicans lost seats in the Calif legislature and the Democrats can now raise taxes at will.
The Car tax installed a few years ago caused 50% of Car dealers in LA County to go out of business. Carson, CA used to have 100 car dealers. They now have 1. Empty store fronts are all over Orange and LA County business districts. Building is down so much there are no lines in LA and some small suburbs Building and Safety departments. Foreclosed houses are everywhere. Why? part of it is the tax laws allow US Businesses to go overseas. Apple had lots of money but stiffs California for taxes by using Nevada as it's HQ state where there is no income tax. Apple uses foreign workers in Asia to make it's products and stiffs consumers in the USA. FORD knew if he wanted to sell cars he had to pay a living wage. So he paid the highest wages in Detroit and prospered and that company is doing well and is still operating.

I've lived in California since 1945 when I was 1 year old. I watched the Aero Space industry come and go. I watched Jerry Browns Dad, Pat Brown, build roads, freeways, Universities, and jobs. Jerry was always at odds with his Dad for environmental issues. Pat Brown, a lawyer, knew that building took money so he made California good for business. Jerry Brown got a law passed allowing public employees to have a union because the courts ruled there was no right to a union for public employees. That led to Cal-Pers, a legalized raid on the California Treasury and rife with corruption. 3 Cities have filed for Bankrupty including the County Seat of San Bernardino County, the City of San Bernardino. The City of LA is on the verge of bankruptcy and the Unions are steadfastly refusing to give on pensions even though it's obvious the pensions will themselves go bankrupt for mismanagement by the union leaders, one of whom has gone bankrpt himself twice in the last 10 years.
So from the 1950s to the 1970s I watched as the California population grow to 10% of the Entire USA living here. I watched as LA went from the No. 12th City in the US to the #2 after New York.
Now I'm watching everybody leave as the taxes go higher and higher and the

"Another day, another Republican making an ill-advised comment about rape. Celeste Greig, the head of the largest GOP volunteer organization in California — Ronald Reagan once called the California Republican Assembly “the conscience of the Republican Party — told the Bay Area News group that rape almost never leads to pregnancies because the body is too traumatized."

I escaped from California in 2010 and live so well now in Dallas on a middle class income. Texas homes are so affordable and no state income taxes means I actually have savings now and a new car and took a great vacation last year. Moving to Texas was the best decision of my life.

People who are interested in keeping businesses in their state do not adopt tax, immigration and regulatory policies as California has done over the past decade or so. This, despite the fact that they had a supposedly Republican governor, someone so inept that they ran rings around him the entire term.

Know this: Democrats in California could care less about keeping businesses in the state and are equally disinterested in maintaining a prosperous, growing economy. In fact, prosperity is directly contrary to the society Democrats are looking to create. The economy is not even on the Democratic agenda in California, or anywhere else that Democrats control.

Democrats understand that the worse the economy does, the better for Democrats.
Prosperity is NOT the goal. Driving out those who disagree with the new society Democrats are creating is one goal - it's part of the reason for the taxation, the environmental regulations, the welcoming of new immigrants to replace those tossed out of the State.

Some people say that this analysis gives too much credit to not very smart people, that Democrats have more or less blundered their way into the terrible place California now finds itself. Wrong. Democrats recognize that they do best when people are poor, reliant on government, and when there is mass immigration, especially of pooor people, since immigrants come in already dependent on government, and therefore ready to vote for Democrats. Immigrants also are unfamiliar with American traditions and are therefore more susceptible to Democratic manipulation, using the tried and true method of suborning the leadership at the expense of the people.

Accordingly, in California the Democratic Party encourages conditions that creates and maintains poverty - especialy anything that results in single parents which leads to a double win for Democrats - a dependent parent and children more likely to be dependent. Along with crime and all the rest of the conditions that are near and dear to Democrats.

On the other hand, Democrats encourage public employee unions since it serves the dual purpose of creating a class of people directly dependant on government, and gives them access to taxpayer funding of Democratic candidates and causes.

Democrats also use public media to promote their candidates and issues, and public media is in turn dependent on Democrats for subsidies. Other media is also depedent on Democrats - a revolving door has been created between Party and government, if not directly than through spouses and other family members.

The new state being built by the Democrats, who are now firmly entrenched in power in California, is based on a model well known to modern history. The new California essentially will have no middle class unless you call government workers and party apparatchiks the "middle class." The rich are those who are well connected or part of the power structure, which is corrupt through and through.

You can't talk about California without talking about the foregoing. As for Democrats being uninterested in prosperity, note that Obama goes from golf game to podium, gives a speech about the economy, but does nothing, and never has done anything on the economy. There is no intent on the part of the Party to improve economic conditions - the Party is uninterested in doing so since it leads to losses in elections. Why would it do otherwise - the constiuency of the Party are the poor, and it does phenomenally well among single mothers who depend on the Party, it's an ally to environmental groups (who now have acess to the public trough) who advocate for means to cause further impoverishment.

Democrats in fact do everything possible to destroy wealth, and its record includes a half a century of utter failure in the cities, and in one community in particular.

And, when the "traditional" Americans who have not yet been conditioned object, that's no problem either since Democrats are well on their way to making these people into a minority in their own country.

Sound simple, right? There is no word to describe just how bad these people are - they have destroyed generations, dooming them to poor schools, communities filled with crime and drugs, and children raised by overwhelmed single parents. It isn't any wonder that people ruled by Democrats looked to Obama as their great leader - since their lives are barren,without guidance or foundation, so they were more than ready to lay down and accept someone as their savior, before whom they could kneel, bow and scrape. We are indeed fortunate that Obama appears to be entirely too incompetent to be a real leader - or so it would seem, as these people have shown they were waiting to relinquish their freedom to the first demogogue that came along. Why wouldn't they, since it means so little to them?

Looked at in this light, what is happening in California makes perfect sense.

What was Governor Brown supposed to say? “Come to California and we’ll tax the shirt right off your back so you can improve your tan”. For decades past, California’s politicians have relied on sunshine and climate to attract new citizens and it worked out quite well – for a while at least. People came west, booming industries were established which drew in ever more new citizens. Aircraft manufacturing, motion pictures, shipbuilding and finally electronics and software development found a home in California. However, today, even our famous motion picture production is in decline within California.

And how long can government play the Sunshine Card? Forever is the politicians’ answer to that question but is a Mediterranean climate alone enough to keep citizens from yearning for greener pastures and responsible government?

And what keeps citizens happy in their adopted state? California has tried various devices to encourage its citizens to establish permanent roots spanning generations but the results have been mixed and the outcome problematical. We’ve even tried yearly festivals to encourage that vital sense of common fellowship and close knit community.

And that hopeful tactic originated with the famous Garlic Festival centered around the city of Gilroy, a small town with a heady aroma. San Jose, once a vast prune growing area, added a Prune Festival. Other communities chimed in with street fairs, art festivals, Crayfish Festivals and one desperate bedroom community, with no other claim to fame, even boasts a Wind Festival.

So far, festivals of various themes haven’t induced significant loyalty, we remain a state chock full of polite strangers who will stay or go for economic reasons, better schools and relatively good government. Now if we had a Tax Cutting Festival, who knows what favorable results might occur?

Cheryl I am a toxicologist and my husband is a physician we are native californians and left to move to florida. so when you say good riddance to the both of us that means that California lost a physician and a toxicologist. Hope you don't get cancer because you will be waiting a long time to see a physician (they are left )

Now is the time that republicans and libertarians of california to show the middle class, hispanic communities, and the poor that the democrats are not their friends. Brown cut billions from welfare (not that i care but it is the democrats who are always crying how much they care about the poor) my Brown's new tax hikes, it is a direct attack against the middle class and small business ( Apple google avoid california taxes thanks to their friend Nancy Pelosi funny she says how much she supports the gays but yet has never done anything for them) the hispanics-democrats cut school funding and raised tuition (funny I thought prop 30 was to avoid that ) Now is the time to show what a bunch of liars the democrats are, and that they only support the public sector unions.

@kathleen - I haven't seen the 40% dropout rate but I believe that will be the case. Texas is also facing this. All due to the hispanic demographics. No valuing of education in their culture. My feeling is both states are going down in the future. Texas will hold out longer because it's more fiscally solvent but if it turns blue... The states that will do well are the ones that have the least percentage of blacks, hispanics and liberals, sad to say. The US has been throwing trillions of dollars over the past decades to educate blacks and hispanics with little to show.

To you commenters who have left California already, and those who can't wait to leave: adios, don't let the door hit you on the way out. More room for those of us who love living in California and would choose a hut in California over a mansion somewhere else.

The one game-changer here is the oil in the Monterey Shale Formation. There could be 4 times as much oil there as in ND. Environmental concerns could hold it up. If they go ahead, that might not be able to save California before it goes bankrupt, but it could make their recovery a lot faster.

"If Texas is so great, why do they need to steal jobs from other states rather than create their own?"

1. It's not stealing. Texas is just publicizing its better business climate.

2. They don't NEED the California jobs. But due to CA's high taxes and other financial burdens, those jobs are ripe for the picking, so to speak. Texas may as well get them before somebody else does.

Strangera: Your comment, often repeated by lefties to describe Texas "If Texas is so great, why do they need to steal jobs from other states rather than create their own?"

This statement, while mostly false, is a clear indication of why the lefties will continue to fail economically. First off, Texas creates plenty of jobs. There are tons of links on this comment page which will outline that simple fact. What draws my ire is the complete lack of economic understanding that uttering the comment indicates. Its not "Stealing" jobs. Its simply a matter of attracting customers. If everyone is going to gas station A and not B, then B lowers their prices, cleans up their station and offers windshield cleaning, the obvious result is everyone goes to gas station B. Does that mean gas station B "stole" customers from gas station A? Is that really how you see it?? Thats the probelm. You guys dont understand simple economics

Rick Perry & his Birch Society friends stopped wasting money on such as reservoirs and other long-term capital investment. They pushed up Texas employment with salaries-only new-hire public employment.

-- Between December 2007 and June 2011 private-sector employment in Texas declined by 0.6 percent.

-- Same period, public-sector jobs increased by 6.4 percent. Keynesian Multiplier Effect government stimulus is what has been driving the Texas economy.

Now Texas has run head-on into a $27-billion budget deficit. No mention of that in this article.
No mentions the huge 2007-2011 increases to public employment.

How's that for "truthiness" ? Third article here repeating these same shams.

In regards to valwayne, there is no obligation to pay a state taxes as long as one is playing by the rules. Having 50 states and no exit taxes means you can pick the state you want to live in.

"Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as
possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the
treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes.
Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister
in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone
does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any
public duty to pay more than the law demands."
by:

Judge Learned Hand
(1872-1961), Judge, U.

To call something unethical implies impropriety. What is immoral is the greedy government to take what is not theirs from others and implying it is theirs to take. The Executive Branch wastes $120 billion per year by a recent GAO report. Instead of reforming true waste, those who pay taxes are vilifies as needing to pay more and those who pay none are held up to be saints. Our country is doomed if this is the new normal. You can pay for your regressive progress, but leave the rest of us out those vote with their feet and leave California.

And unlike residents of Dallas or Houston, Californians can surf in the morning and ski in the afternoon.

You mean IF you have a job and the money to pay for these extravagances. Obviously Mr Brown doesn't consider the not quite so well to do portion of his population. Not surprised though, they don't pay as much in taxes so don't deserve the recognition, right Jerry?

Goodbye California means taking your money, as well as the wife, kids and family dog, to another state; usually a destination that is kinder to the annual income and less frustrating for the emotions. But U-Haul rates from California to New York or New Jersey or Ohio are of little interest, no one is U-Hauling from the frying pan into the fire. And, after a two year total exile to satisfy California’s posse of voracious tax collectors, it’s fiscally safe to return for an extended visit. And what else can Brown do but tout the state’s weather? Was he going to boast about his state’s prudent government instead?

At least Brown has the weather to gloat over, a teaser denied governors and mayors in states like Michigan or Maryland. Detroit is, today, on the verge of complete financial collapse. Michigan has five other cities under a state appointed financial manager as well as several school districts. Baltimore is currently contemplating municipal bankruptcy for the similar reason of too much bad government and not enough good tax revenue. And California also has its share of local governments joining the ranks of the destitute.

Consequently, many Californians will undoubtedly miss the ideal climate but Brown will discover you can’t tax sunshine consumption, he’s already doing that indirectly of course, but an annual sunshine consumption tax seems politically absurd, at least for the next 5 minutes. And those fleeing the state are taking much more of their current and future wealth across the border than those sneaking into California from points south.

In regards to valwayne, there is no obligation to pay a state taxes as long as one is playing by the rules. Having 50 states and no exit taxes means you can pick the state you want to live in.

"Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as
possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the
treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes.
Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister
in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone
does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any
public duty to pay more than the law demands."
by:

Judge Learned Hand
(1872-1961), Judge, U.

To call something unethical implies impropriety. What is immoral is the greedy government to take what is not theirs from others and implying it is theirs to take. The Executive Branch wastes $120 billion per year by a recent GAO report. Instead of reforming true waste, those who pay taxes are vilifies as needing to pay more and those who pay none are held up to be saints. Our country is doomed if this is the new normal. You can pay for your regressive progress, but leave the rest of us out those vote with their feet and leave California.

Apple actually launders its money from its operations in CA though Nevada to avoid state income taxes? Isn't that unethical, even illegal? And what kind of corrupt, unethical special interest pull do you have to have to get away with something like that? Clearly, as Obama would surely say, they aren't paying their fair share if they are doing that? And isn't that totally unfair to all the small businesses that are forced to pay California's company killing taxes? In any event the people of the People's Republican of California only have what they have voted or time after time. They deserve the corrupt, bloated, out of control state Government that they voted into office. The only option for people who work for a living is to get out! As fast as possible!

I think there's a slight cultural factor you're not considering in this piece. California is a million times more desireable to social moderates and liberals. If all you want is a big house - by all means - move to Texas. If you actually want to live with some culture - not to mention clean beaches and beautiful mountains - stay in California.

Right on PacRim Jim, we need to split up the US into 2. Low tax, small govt, Judeo-Christian nation in one, high tax, big govt, secular nation in the other.

Since Romney won everyone making over 100K by 10% and everyone making over 50K by 7%, the red states should do well, especially once all the Democrat welfare hogs in their states flee to the blue ones---in most red states, the majority on welfare is non-Asian, non-white.

"Yet, as former California legislator turned Texas transplant Chuck DeVore points out, “California’s cost of living is 132 percent of the U.S. average, while Texas clocks in at 90 percent.” Beaches and mountains are great, but so is being able to afford a nice house."

So, housing prices are high, so no one wants to live in California? Reminds me of Yogi Berra's famous line - no one goes there any more because it's too crowded.

I left California 20 years ago for medical training on the East Coast. I kept my medical license in California as I felt that I might want to live there again someday. I have decided that California has become hopeless and that I would never go back to live. I gave up my license this year with no plans of returning for work. I have lived in many states, including Texas, since I left and California is nice but many other states have their charms as well. I am much happier keeping more of my income living elsewhere as California is just not worth it any more. I will visit California if I care to. My family has all left California for Washington State(no state income tax and a beautiful state) 15 to 20 years ago. California is reaping what they sow. Sometimes you run out of other people's money.

kathleen7546 wrote: "I have read that by 2030 at current immigration rates that 40% of workers will not have a H.S. diploma. That makes for a different school system and state."

I haven't seen that statistic. However, California's public schools perform on the low end nationally on assessment tests performed by the U.S. Department of Education.
http://soquelbythecreek.blogspot.com/2012/12/california-public-schools-and.html

Some of this decay is due to lower spending for education and by demographic changes in public school enrollment.
http://soquelbythecreek.blogspot.com/2012/12/california-public-school-demographics.html

On a humorous note, a number of California apologists berate Texas for having the lowest percentage of high school graduates of any state. The humorous part is what's missing from that statement. Texas is last only because 'T' comes after 'C' and 'M' in the alphabet. Texas is TIED for last place with California and Mississippi.

CHART: Educational Attainment, High School or Better (2011 American Community Survey)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Gn0Um88hOU/UR2oxNAFXqI/AAAAAAAACM8/LGlPrTmB4vU/s1600/Educational_Attainment_ACS.png

Because California is home to Silicon Valley, many are surprised that California ranks there at the bottom. To be fair, California does have a higher percentage of college graduates than Texas. Washington, D.C. has the highest rate and look how well that's turned out.

I moved from California to Florida 36 years ago with much derision and laughter from family and friends. Now, they think I am a visionary. As I get ready to retire, with a beautiful home and condo on the beach, I figure I'm approx. $500,000 ahead in state income taxes alone. The CA climate isn't that much nicer. Plus, the humidity is good for my arthritis.

Les Hardie wrote: "California will not get better until it hits rock bottom. This is because the "business elites" here are highly-paid salaried employees of corporate entities like entertainment and film, which shelter their profits from the ruinous tax system."

Amen, brother! Here are but a few examples.

Many a Hollywood media company supported Governor Brown's Proposition 30 tax hikes, giving it a phony street cred with some independent voters. Meanwhile, Governor Brown and the Legislature extended the $100 MILLION PER YEAR Hollywood tax credit. No wonder so many in Hollywood are loyal donors to the California Democratic Party.
http://soquelbythecreek.blogspot.com/2012/08/prop30mediabiasquestions.html

Many apologists here in California talk about all the great California companies like Apple, Intel, and Google. Indeed, we do have our unfair share. But there's much more to that story.

What does Apple's facility in Reno, Nevada do for the company? HINT: At 8.84%, California has the highest corporate tax rate in the Western United States. Nevada's corporate tax rate is 0%.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/business/apples-tax-strategy-aims-at-low-tax-states-and-nations.html?_r=0

There could have been a better way. Governor Brown could have proposed a reformed, modern, efficient tax system with a level playing field. Instead, he and his cronies simply raised top rates with Proposition 30, which encourages economically-inefficient tax avoidance schemes and punishes law abiding tax payers.

Then again, this is typically how California government works. It explores and exhausts every possible bad idea before eventually settling on an acceptably mediocre idea. It's why California's state government has been ranked the nation's worst-run for two years running.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XIXYlA3EcxU/URqTkneK9xI/AAAAAAAACFg/HhVLV6aQpys/s1600/Best+Run+States_CA.png

Jerome, it is true that U-Haul charges $700 more to rent a 20foot truck in San Francisco to drive to San Antonio than in the reverse direction. However, that disparity only applies to the kind of people who rent U-Haul trucks, mainly middle class. If it is primarily the middle class which is leaving California, that will aggravate California's income inequality which is already second or third greatest among the states; Texas is seventh (Center for Budget Policies and Priorities, 2012). To take just two prominent examples of the middle vs. upper class constrast, consider that Gov. Brown is the son of a former California governor, Gov. Perry is the son of a rancher.

Is anybody tracking U-Haul rental rates? That's the key indicator of migration patterns. Exclusive of all the sophomoric blather about political or environmental features, people moving is the one final proof of a state's attractiveness.

"Dear Texas: Don't be stupid. If you love your state, the last thing you want are arrogant activist Californians coming over, moving in, and taking over your City Councils and other elected bodies."

Depends. First of all, you have got to figure that a lot of California refugees are those with a clue about what is going on, people who are not going to vote for members of the same political tribe that is wielding the wrecking ball against their own state's economy in California. But, I agree it is a concern that some will flee the state who supported the lefties in California and who remain in denial about what destroyed their state.

I am constantly amazed how lame the excuses lefties give for why California is so dysfunctional. Prop 13, Ronald Reagan, I'm waiting for them to blame it on Millard Fillmore.

I think Ca. actually has had to already cut their budget considerably.

All the smoke and mirrors and tax increases were insufficient to counteract the fiscal time bombs the politicians planted such as unsustainable pension benefits for public employees.

So, while the progressives philosophy is that their vision can be sustained by legislating ever-increasing taxes, in reality they have had to administer a goodly dose of austerity already, which of course is just the beginning.

Remember the phrase; Nice place to visit but you wouldn't want to live there. That's the New California.

I hope that's accurate. I will be spending a weekend in San Diego in the spring.

I lived 22 years in LA and was glad to get out before all hell broke loose. However, that was 5 years ago and all hell hasn't broken loose yet, I guess. I note that California is still a part of the United States and still has for example air flights in and out of the state.

Although I gather it is increasingly becoming a state of rich and poor, with the central valley having devolved considerably back in the direction of the Stone Age, and the coastal areas becoming increasingly enclaves of the very rich who have enough money to not be hurt by the hostile economic policies and a vanishing middle class that are not.

Apparently, California has run out of other people's money. If the exodus continues they will (GASP!) have to cut their budget, because further increases in taxes will result in LESS tax revenue (see Art Laffer).

California the Golden state, Obama and the Democrats model for American future, is fast becoming the poster child for an bankrupt third world State!

An unholy alliance of Socialist Democrat politicians, Unions, Left wing loony,s and Illegal Aliens supporters are feasting like hogs at the trough of tax payers paid benefits while taxing & regulating business and the tax paying public into poverty.

The corruption and pandering of Left Wing Democrat Politicians to their constituency of Unions, Illegal Aliens and open border supporters, are driving business and citizens to other states & countries, while leaving the parasites, welfare leeches and Hollywood perverts in an increasing bankrupt, crime ridden, dysfunctional state!

For years California has ignored economics 101 and imported Criminals, Uneducated fast breeding Parasites, and poverty from Mexico, which increased Medical, Welfare, Crime, Prison, etc. & adding a estimated 22 billion per year to Calif. State expense to support the invading horde of Illegal Aliens while exporting business and educated tax payers.

Like all Socialist countries the results have been a astronomical increase in social welfare, schooling, prison cost etc. and a lowing of Living standards, Heath care, Education standards, Tax receipts & finally Bankruptcy.

The policies of Comrade Obama and Wash. DC Democrats are intent on following Calif. policies and Pro-Illegal Aliens, Pro-Unions and Anti-tax paying citizens and are endorsing the same socialist process of rewarding the Corrupt, Stupid, Foolish, Lazy, Greedy & Criminal while punishing the responsible, honest, law abiding citizens of American.

Failure to abide by our Constitution against invasion & enforce our Immigration laws and constraints on wages and benefits for public employees will result in turning the Golden State into MexiCalif and the end of the Calif. Dream and the beginning of the MexiCalif. Nightmare!

Amnesty & Citizenship as a reward for their invasion of the USA, with chain immigration will result in the rest of the USA turned into a Spanish speaking third world cesspool and follow California into a polluted, over populated, Spanish speaking, third world Slum of Crime, Corruption, Poverty, Cruelly & Misery modeled on Mexico!

This will result in a population depending on Welfare and the Democrat party, thus assuring the lock on power for the Socialist Democrat party of the United States of Mexico!

Poverty, government dependency and Democrat votes are Obama,s and the Democrats objective! Amnesty and chain immigration will increase the number of all three by many, many millions.

Normal people thinks no one would be diabolic and sick enough to purposely use policies to reduce the Nation and its population to a state of Poverty, Crime, Misery and Corruption, but you would be wrong!

If reducing Calif. and this Nation to a suburb of Mexico and this Nation to a bankrupt Third World Slum is necessary to accomplish their goal that is a price Obama & the Democrats are more than willing to pay.

The more Democrats can decrease Education achievement, Reasoning ability, Punish success, Reward failure and increase, Poverty, Welfare and the Entitlement mentality the more Democrat voters they make.

The last piece to achieving their goals of controlling this Nation is nearly in place.

Amnesty for the 12 to 30 million criminals and uneducated invading Illegal Aliens. That with chain Immigration for the ones still left in Mexico and Latin American and with a Prolific breeding rate will assure Red States are turned blue and a Democrat majority forever with a Third World Slum here of Crime, Corruption, Poverty and Misery modeled on Mexico and controlled by the Socialist/Democrat party of Northern Mexico!

We know Obama loves the poor, because he has made so many of them and they vote for Democrats. Poverty has soared under Obama, with the number of Americans in poverty increasing to the highest level in the more than 50 years that the Census Bureau has been tracking poverty. Over the last 5 years, the number in poverty has increased by nearly 31%, to 49.7 million, with the poverty rate climbing by over 30% to 16.1%. Obama has also been the food stamp President, with the number on food stamps increasing during his Administration to an all time record high of 47.7 million, up 80% over the past 5 years.

It is all about Power, Control and the Democrat party and how to use lies,
false compassion, poverty and government dependency to enslave a free people and a great Nation!

Both people and companies have been leaving California and heading to Texas over the last decade. I am sure it will increase with all the new state income taxes and regulations. The sensible people who work and create the tax base and drive the economy have been voting with their feet. California is upside down with more takers than makers and it is only getting worse.

As a CA native it breaks my heart to see what the unions and liberals have done to this state. Until CA collapses entirely under the weight of regulations and union contracts, this lunacy will not end. Keep a low profile folks!!

Mass immigration from any one place is a bad thing. The mindset of someone from California doesn't change once they move. They start complaining about all the lack of services, etc instead of adoption the local way of life. Look at how the New Yorkers transformed South Florida into a hell hole. Look at how the Katrina refugees from New Orleans created slums and increased the drug and crime rate in Houston. Look at how the massive influx of Hurricane Andrew refugees from Homestead ruined sleepy little Ft. Lauderdale. Careful what you wish for!

"Why o why Ben?" Because I was born here, grew up here, went to school here. Got married here. Bought a nice house here with a big yard for my kids. Because, despite the taxes, the terrible roads, the laptop thefts, and everything else, I like it here. Because I think the state is worth fighting for. Because as a fella once wrote, "Nothing any good isn't hard." I'll bemoan all I like, thank you kindly. (And see you in the comments at the Bee, I'm sure.)

My wife and I are both professionals, lived in California, and we were moderately successful. We were living in a $1750/month 2 bedroom apartment in the bay area and paying $1500/month in state income taxes. In 2006 we moved to Texas. We own a beautiful home we pay $1500/month on and no state income taxes. Roads, schools are much better in Texas. Best move we ever made.

Our neighborhood is full of engineers, software people, accountants, and other professionals from California. We laugh about it and call ourselves economic refugees.

...and yet Benny continues to reside in one of the most inhospitable sections of California, San Berdoo in the "Inland Empire." Continue to bemoan the Golden State and remain there as a taxpayer. Why o why Ben? Begone, run off to beautiful Texas, pay higher homeowners insurance, eat their produce, get the hail dings removed from your car, feel the breeze of tornadoes, hurricanes and the smell of the water from your tap. Don't forget the never ending drought and the massive wildfires.

Merely incorporating a business in California will get you an annual $800 bill from the state govt. Even if the business isn't operating and has no revenues. And what does the business owner get for his $800 annual hit? The privilege of being in California!
California will not get better until it hits rock bottom. This is because the "business elites" here are highly-paid salaried employees of corporate entities like entertainment and film, which shelter their profits from the ruinous tax system. Consequently, there is little incentive for them to change the system, since they aren't hurt by it personally. They assuage their guilt over being paid too much by supporting the vast welfare and entitlement system that is dragging the state down.

Fedaralism Is Dying and What’s More The Democrats Know It
Washington? There is no more attraction to the Emerald City and no one wants to go and find The Wizard. States like Arizona can be seen as pulling away. As is Texas. The smart money now is on the 10th Amendment not the 22nd. Federalism is dying. The founding fathers feared future Obamas and sought to build them a cage. The Constitution was nearly not ratified and was saved only when affixed with the Bill Of Rights. Liberals tell us it really meant the bill of needs. Theysay you don’t really NEED to possess a gun and you don’t really NEED so much free speech. And now Washington State tells us that we don’t NEED to be able to keep Obama’s boys from crawling through our homes looking for whatever. That’s just three of the first ten amendments which were written down and produced with Benjamin Franklin’s printing press. They forget that such black ink on law the paper of law books produced the phrase “black letter law” and they forget that the word rights means laws in any language. Por ejemplo en espanol ”derechos” oder auf Deutsch “Rechte”. As Americans realize their votes were probably stole through computer fraud they are finding they can vote with their feet. It’s difficult to find a moving van that’s empty heading for Texas and just as tough to find one that is full heading back to Los Angeles. An ill wind is blowing up you-know-who’s rear end and it is a time of High Anxiety for Marxists and tyrants. This is the last hurrah for liberals; they will never pass this way again. God has take us to the edge and let us look into the abyss. He has let us wander in the desert for 40 years being tempted by our own personal devil…”Obama the terrible”. Visit me at “Jimmy Travis” on Facebook.

"who would want to spend summers there in 110-degree heat" Has Brown been to Sacramento? Or Bakersfield, or Mojave, Van Nuys, Pasadena, Riverside, or San Bernardino? I routinely would see over 110, and once saw 116 on the thermometer.

I am personally responsible for a reduction of $9,000 of California property tax revenue, $28,000 of California income tax revenue, $35,000 of California corporate tax revenue, and maybe $2,500 of sales tax revenue. Where did that money go? Most stayed in my pocket and the rest went to the State of Texas. Best financial decision I ever made. Wish I had moved years ago.

Remember the phrase; Nice place to visit but you wouldn't want to live there. That's the New California.
Oh, and as far as I know there have been Zero cities in Texes,Arizona or Nevada that have declared Bankruptcy Guvner Moonbrain.

Dear Texas: Don't be stupid. If you love your state, the last thing you want are arrogant activist Californians coming over, moving in, and taking over your City Councils and other elected bodies. Think about it.

The main Jerry Brown response to Gov. Perry's overtures to CA businesses (and Jerry's response HAS resonated with voters) is to make snide comments about Texas -- elitist snobbery endearing to our progressive crowd.
But with governor after governor heading to CA to poach our businesses and wealthy, Brown is gonna need a full-time Department of Denigration -- designed to tailor the Democrats' smear campaign to fit each state in turn.
Gonna be a challenge, but I'm sure our Sacramento geniuses are up to it!

The threat to California is not Governor Perry. The threat is not Texas. The threat to California IS California.

If Texas fell into the Gulf of Mexico tomorrow, there's be over 40 other states seeking to "poach" California businesses.

Until states are allowed to erect their own Berlin walls to prevent economic refugees from departing, the threat remains -- for the state that is the most anti-business, high tax, nanny-loving, regulation-mad, enviro-wacko workers' paradise.

And Iowa Governor Terry Branstad has just been in California, doing the same thing Perry did - talking up great opportunities in a state with a low cost of living and a good workforce! And a sensible Legislature, largly controlled by Republicans.

Not really much news here, but a good analysis of what has been obvious since Reagan left the state in great shape as governor.

ObamaCare is a killer for all, Tx seems to have found ways to work around that. Brown is PROBABLY smarter than Perry, even Obama, but he's not going to bring California back. My guess is he knows that, sad to see a man settle for winning petty elections, when he could be leading to a future!